Americans rejoiced over polio vaccine. 8 vintage photos show what it was like. - SILive.com

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Americans rejoiced over polio vaccine. 8 vintage photos show what it was like. - SILive.com Posted: 24 Apr 2021 12:00 AM PDT STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Millions of Americans are making appointments and lining up to get the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine in hopes of a return to a normal life, and it's not the first time people were desperate for inoculation to protect against a deadly disease. More than 60 years ago, Americans rejoiced when the polio vaccine first became available. The first polio vaccine was produced by Jonas Salk using virus grown on monkey kidney cells and inactivate with formalin, according to a 2012 journal article by Anda Baicus published in the World Journal of Virology. In 1954, the vaccine was tested in a placebo-controlled trial, enrolling 1.6 million children in Canada, Finland and the United States. By April 1955, the vaccine was adopted throughout the U.S. — and polio cases decreased drastically from 13.9 cases per 100,000 in 1954 to 0.8 cases per 100,000 in 1961. And thanks to the successful vaccination program, the U.S. has been polio-free since 1979, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). NEEDHAM, MA - MAY 19: Miss Claire Callan, head nurse of Needham Public Schools, watches a group of Needham residents drink the new Sabin oral Polio vaccine at the Pollard Jr. High School in Needham, MA on May 19, 1962. (Photo by Dick Fallon/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) - . GettyGetty But the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic differs from the aftermath of the polio vaccine, according to a report by The New Yorker. Americans were excited to vanquish polio with vaccines in the 1950s, but there is hesitancy to celebrate vaccines in 2021. There are several reasons, The New Yorker reported — like how Americans waited decades for a cure for polio, and were anxiously awaiting the successful results of the vaccine field trial. The development of the COVID vaccines, which received emergency authorization by the federal government for use, unfolded in just a single year that is still ongoing. CANADA - AUGUST 03: More than thousand people of all ages line up for polio vaccine shots outside an emergency immunization clinic set up yesterday in Norwich. Tremendous response came in way of news that 3 residents in the Oxford County community of 1;800 were suspected of contacting the once-dread disease; better known as infantile paralysis. I don't think anybody is really panicking. said Norwich Police Chief Robert Knight; . . . more a case of being safe than sorry. (Photo by Dale Brazao/Toronto Star via Getty Images) - . GettyGetty *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** Polio was once was of the most feared diseases in the country before vaccines were available — similar to the fear that continues to strike the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic. In the late 1940s, polio outbreaks in the U.S. increased in frequency and size, disabling an average of more than 35,000 people each year. According to the CDC, parents were scared to let their children go outside, especially in the summer when it seemed to peak. Like during the current pandemic, travel and commerce between affected cities were sometimes restricted, and public health officials imposed quarantines on homes and towns where polio cases were diagnosed. History.com reported that pools and movie theaters were also shuttered. READING, MA - MAY 11: Nancy Harrow receives a Salk polio vaccine injection from Dr. E.M. Halligan at the Joshua Eaton School in Reading, MA on May 11, 1954. School Health Superintendent Mrs. Margaret Clewley looks on. ((Photo by Ed Farrand/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) - . GettyGetty Once the vaccine became available — first the trivalent inactivated poliovirus vaccine in 1955 and the trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine in 1963 — the number of polio cases fell to less than 100 in the 1960s. By the 1970s, there were fewer than 10 cases. On April 12, 1955, news spread that Salk's polio vaccine was a success — which was greeted with tears of joy and relief, according to History.com. The initial rollout of the vaccine was handled by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which procured nine million doses to target the youngest and most vulnerable. Americans would still have to wait through another summer of pool closures and social distancing, History.com reported. Polio victim Larry Montoya, is at the airport for the arrival of cases of the Sabin vaccine, which be distributed as par of the KO Polio campaign, September 5, 1962 (Photo by John McBride/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) - . GettyGetty Six pharmaceutical companies were licensed to produce the vaccine. The Salk vaccine was a series of injections with a dead virus that would produce polio antibodies in the bloodstream. The virus in the vaccine was killed by exposure to formaldehyde. But one batch of the Salk vaccine manufactured by Cutter Laboratories had proteins in the vaccine clumped together, preventing the formaldehyde from fully killing the virus. Kids were injected with live polio virus with that batch, spreading active infection to family and friends. Hundreds of kids and adults were paralyzed with polio and 11 people died from the batch, known as the "Cutter incident," according to History.com. After that incident, Albert Sabin took advantage of the shot's bad publicity to create his own vaccine taken orally in one dose as opposed to receiving multiple injections like the Salk vaccine. Despite the "Cutter incident," Americans would still get inoculated to protect against polio. Polio Vaccine Being Shipped To Europe, 1955. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) - . GettyGetty Vaccination programs were created to eradicate polio not just in the U.S., but globally. Now, for the best protection, the polio vaccine is given in four doses to children starting as young as 2 months — unlike the current COVID vaccines available that are only for adults 16 and older. Two doses of the polio vaccine provides 90% immunity to all three types of poliovirus — and 3 doses provides at least 99% immunity, according to the CDC. There are currently two coronavirus vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. — Moderna and Pfizer. Pfizer allows people 16 and older to get the shot, and Moderna only lets people 18 and older get the vaccine. Each vaccine provides a different percentage of immunity to protect against COVID-19 based on the results of their clinical trials. MAY 27 1962, MAY 28 1962; Seven of every 10 persons in the 10-county area in and around Denver are now immunized against at least one type of polio. About 350,000 took Sabin oral vaccine on the second Stop Polio Sunday, whose sponsors said they were gratified with the results of their drive.; "Stop Polio Sunday: line at Grant Junior High School; (Photo By Duane Howell/The Denver Post via Getty Images) - . GettyGetty Pfizer and Moderna clinical trials showed the vaccine lowered the risk of developing symptoms of coronavirus by about 95%. The Johnson & Johson's efficacy rate was 72% in trials. Experts said the protection appears to be lower because it was the only vaccine tested against more contagious coronavirus variants. But all three offered 100% protection against hospitalization and death in clinical trials. Scientists are now able to see the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines outside of clinical trials, including the effectiveness against rapidly spreading variants. American physician Jonas Salk, developer of the polio vaccine, inoculating the vaccine to a girl. USA, 1950s (Photo by Mondadori via Getty Images) - . GettyGetty FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.

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